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4 · Verbs — how the system works

4 · Verbs — how the system works · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar

From Khan Ch. 4 (§4.1–4.26), with the "which form when" notes drawn from his Ch. 10, "The Syntax of Verbs" (vol. 2). Speaking value: HIGH (the engine of the language).

How this chapter relates to the verb book. Your verb reference book gives the full conjugation of individual verbs. This chapter teaches the system — the handful of patterns and endings that let you recognize and build any verb. Learn the machine here; look up specific verbs there. Condensed summary tables are included so this chapter stands on its own.

Grammar words explained as we go. Terms like root, stem, participle, resultative, perfect, progressive, infinitive, verbal noun are each spelled out in plain English the first time they appear below — and all gathered on one page in "Grammar words in plain English," if you ever want a quick refresher.

The chapter has two halves. The first half, down to Making verbs negative, is the machine: two stems, two sets of endings, the particles that set the tense. That is enough to speak. From Weak verbs onward it goes deeper — the verbs whose root letters go quiet, the handful of irregulars you cannot avoid, the full object endings ("give it to me"), what the patterns actually mean, and the two-word verbs. Read the first half properly; come back to the second when a verb surprises you.

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